Local

Line down for 4 months

UNEXPECTED underground blockages have left a Kidderminster man without a phone line for the past four months.

John Cobley, a resident of the Stour Valley development, in Stourport Road, said the interruption to his phone line was costing him an extra 84 miles of travel each week.

“I normally work from home two days a week, so I am having to travel to the office instead, as I can’t use my laptop at home,” he said.

A BT spokesman said work was due to be completed to solve the problem on June 4 but due to wire ducts being “seriously blocked” the completion date had been pushed back to tomorrow.

Speaking on behalf of Openreach, the spokesman said: “Engineers did plan to solve the problem for Mr Cobley on their last visit but the duct carrying the cable was too seriously blocked and they were unable to do the repair.

“They will be back on June 20, when they will have to dig a new duct route. This delay is regrettable but we will work hard to carry out the job thoroughly.

“In the meantime, Openreach apologises for the delays due to unforeseeable engineering challenges.”

Mr Cobley moved into his home on February 11 and made an appointment for a BT engineer to connect his phone line on February 27.

He said the engineer came but could not connect the phone line because the cables had not been laid in the ducts installed by the development’s builders.

Contractors started work on the site two weeks ago and even though he was yet to receive service from BT, Mr Cobley said the company had already started taking payments.

“Although I am receiving no service they still take a payment of £51 each month - obviously I expect to get this refunded,” he said.